Effective February 21, 2012, to March 31, 2013, the bonus is a one-time refundable personal
income tax credit worth up to $10,000. Great news if you buying a New Home for the first time.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
BC First Time New Home Buyer Bonus
Sunday, February 12, 2012
CN Rail is growing in leaps and bounds
For those of us in the Prince George area keeping an eye on the growing transportation hub we are becoming this is just more support for what the potential is.
Here is a link to the Prince George Citizen article on CN's growth here.
Cheers!
Dean Birks - REALTOR® Royal LePage Prince George
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Cold Weather Tip - Watch your furnace!
There has been a few clients in the past few weeks were their furnace stopped working and the home was left vacant for a few days which meant frozen pipes and not so nice outcome. But those are the obvious ones. The less obvious is your furnace switch in your home. Some times it is accidentally turned off due to someone flicking switches to see what light it turns on (not realizing its the furnace switch) only to leave it in the off position. This then shuts your furnace down and again if the home is left vacant you could end up with a frozen home.
I would guess that in a year only 1% of the homes I show have some kind of sticker or color to indicate the switch is for the furnace. I would recommend placing a sticker saying 'Furnace' on that switch. It only take a minute to do and could save your thousands of dollars in repairs due to frozen pipes.
Here is a picture of my furnace switch at home:
Best regards Dean Birks Top Office Producer (07, 09, 10 & 2011) #1 MLS® Producer in Prince George (2011)
Thank you very much!
I wish to personally thank very much all my past and present clients, along with friends and associates for their continued trust when asking me or referring myself to help with either buying or selling real estate here in the Prince George area. I look forward to another great year and feel very optimistic about Prince George & area in the coming years.
Cheers!
Best regards Dean Birks
Friday, February 3, 2012
More good news for North Central BC & Prince George
1- Foreign Trade Zones Eyed for Vancouver, Prince Rupert, Prince George - The British Columbia government is considering creating two foreign trade zones, one in the Vancouver region and one in the north. Click Here for the rest.
2- Clark Government Unveils LNG Plans: By 250 News Friday, February 03, 2012 10:05 AM
Prince George, B.C. - Premier Christy Clark today announced British Columbia's natural gas strategy will be established on a foundation of four priorities for long-term economic prosperity under the BC Jobs Plan.
"We are creating new and exciting opportunities by diversifying our natural gas sector, strengthening job prospects for British Columbians and opening the door to new clean energy projects. My government is positioning liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a cornerstone of British Columbia's long-term economic success," said Premier Clark.
The Natural Gas Strategy and a complementary strategy focusing specifically on the development of a brand-new LNG sector, were released today by Clark at BCIT. Their four priorities commit the province to:
* Greater emphasis on market diversification to increase the value of B.C.'s natural gas.
* Support job creation together with industry, educators and communities.
* Continued strong leadership on clean energy and climate change moving forward.
* A redefinition of the Province's self-sufficiency policy to ensure B.C. is well-positioned to power expansion.
The Province's strategy will ultimately support job creation and economic opportunity. Over the next five years, job openings are expected to increase as a result of growth in the natural gas sector and the emergence of a LNG industry.
Development of LNG is expected to produce approximately $20 billion in new private sector investment. This investment will create 800 new long-term jobs for British Columbians working in LNG facilities and up to 9,000 more jobs during construction.
Indirectly, growth and a new LNG industry will support thousands of spin-off jobs in the fields of transportation, engineering, construction and environmental management.
British Columbia will be home to the world`s first LNG export facilities that use clean energy. BC LNG Douglas Channel and Kitimat LNG will access clean energy from the Province's existing grid. As new infrastructure is built and the industry expands, future energy needs will be served by local, clean energy, with B.C.'s natural gas used to support energy reliability if required. Discussions are underway now with LNG proponents to assess power requirements for future projects.
Cheers!
Best regards Dean Birks Top Office Producer (07, 09, 10 & 2011) #1 MLS® REALTOR® for Prince George (2011)
Thursday, February 2, 2012
A cautious start to the new year
Here is a great email I got from Bob and thought I would pass it along. Enjoy!
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In the early 70's expanding competition from globalization brought competition that caused major fluctuations in interest rates charged by lenders as credit became more accessible and inflation caught the financial gurus off guard. This explosion of the baby boomers transitioning into home owners with families fed it all. There was no end to the prosperity. Mortgage rates rose for a short time over 20%. In 1982 the bubble burst as values had to be adjusted to suit the payments debtors could afford. The world recovered slowly and here in Prince George as 5-yr interest rates settled into the 10-12% range and values/sales were determined again by the catalyst of credit... payments....
When UNBC was announced in 1990 Prince George immediately benefited over the next six to seven years until the Softwood Lumber Dispute slowed Northern BC substantially as many depended on the sale of word to the US. A comment often heard was: "imagine if we didn't have the University". And it was true. Interest rates continued to slowly drop.However, during that time growth did happen, even if it was not as robust. Increased Global competition helped reduce the costs of borrowing as overall, interest rates dropped slowly and prior to September 11, 2001, the overall forecast for the global economy was for slow recovery and growth (how often have we heard that?). Immediately after 9/11interest rates dropped world wide. And they continued to drop. Here in Prince George and surrounding area it was the catalyst that combined a new supply with the pent up demand. In 2002 the market started to move for the better and by 2004 things here were chugging along pretty good. About 2006 we started to see result of some success with the expectation of more to come. Interest rates demanded began to rise and borrowers rationalized the cost.. Again, a new bubble burst. This time in 2008. Blame can be set upon the creditors and debtors alike, but it really takes two to tango. Anyways, the enormity to the problem now was magnified by globalization. Getting in... and now getting out (of the problem while maintaining accelerating access to world markets. Once financial institutions started to fall, so great in 2008 was the fear of a collapse, the resulting damage and then letting order restore itself as it has in similar historical situations was too great for governments not to step in. Values and amounts of debts along with payments are being adjusted in Greece and the same will probably happen in Spain, Portugal and maybe even Italy. This is not growth and does not spur any reason for an increase in interest rates. For a long time. Last week word came from the US that interest rates will not rise at all until late 2014. We are tied closely enough that we will be in much the same boat. The advantage for investors/speculators in the Prince George area is that the growth in transportation alone to service the natural resources sector in Northern BC combined with the certainty of low interest rates equals opportunity. We are seeing activity in both the commercial and residential market. Some tire kicking and some actual buying. But as in most trends, many will not join in until the trend is a full swell. Now is the time when those with great insight, luck and guts will try to find the right real estate investment that will pay off handsomely in the next 4- 6 years. Credit will be available but less so as returns for lenders remain low.My point is, our financial world has become addicted to cash flow and low interest rates. The two are related and value becomes secondary to. The challenge debtors are faced with is maintaining the values they are contractually entitled to. As we are seeing in Greece, that doesn't mean they will get it. Interest rates will remain low and those who have asked for another "kit at the cat" should have it.I believe that in spite of the challenges displayed to us by the media, here in Prince George and surrounding area, we are on the verge of growth with diversity. What large cities are based and survive on. I would like the opportunity to talk to some of you about it. Please contact me if you have any ideas you want to work on.thanks,Bob Quinlan, mortgage brokeroffice: 250-564-9161
cell: 250-565-8884
fax: 250-564-9132
www.pgmortgages.ca
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Copy forwarded, couresty of:
Best regards Dean Birks Top Office Producer (07, 09, 10 & 2011) #1 MLS® REALTOR® for Prince George (2011)
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